Ideas….

I really wanted to write a blog post for Ada Lovelace Day but I couldn’t think of who to write about.  Its hard in a profession filled with men to find that woman that you feel makes a difference.  And then I saw Dorothea Salo’s post on Bess Sadler and I thought how it was nice that her post was really about her friend Bess.  And then my mind immediately went to Jodi Schneider.

According to Jodi’s publications and talks pages she knows math and FRBR, two topics that are beyond me and makes me even more impressed with her than I was before.  And while this alone deserves a post, the real reason I chose Jodi is because she’s the best cheerleader ever.

I first met Jodi at the New England Chapter of Code4Lib meeting held at the Boston Public Library.  I talked about cloud computing and how I hate applications on desktops because they require me to have a specific browser or computer to use.  I was worried I had offended her (she was discussing Zotero), but later she emailed me to ask about the book on cloud computing I was reading.

I then re-met Jodi at the Annual Code4Lib conference.  She was very open and inviting in the IRC chat room, in the real room, and eventually she encouraged me to do my lightning talk.  Jodi made getting involved with an organization that I was timid about getting involved with much easier (note: I was only timid because I’m a girl and girls and IT aren’t known to go together).

Since then Jodi has sent me delicious links, tweets, and anything else on cloud computing that she comes across.  She doesn’t know it but she has pushed me to become more involved in my areas of interest.  I strive to know more and more about cloud computing because she takes an active interest in my area of interest.  I’m attending different cloud computing events because they are good opportunities and I should take advantage of them (where before I might have wasted the opportunity).

So thanks Jodi for being my cheerleader and making me work harder at my job.

Dear Annoying Person,

Its cool that like 12 years ago you bought http://www.rosalyn.com but you’re not doing anything with it. And the thing is in 3 short months I will be married with a new last name, so I need a new domain.

I wanted to go with something generic, like just my first name.  But no, you won’t let me because you just HAVE TO hang on to something you’re not using AT ALL!  And to be even more annoying, the last time the way back machine indicates you had anything of substance was Feb. 14 2001.

So anyway my point is this.  Stop hogging domains.  If you’re not using them don’t keep them.  Set them free.

And http://www.rosalyn.com I’m considering gunning for you……

Sincerely,

Rosalyn Metz (soon to be Hadzipanajotis…and no I’m not considering buying http://www.hadzipanajotis.com no one could spell that)

I have a fear that using cloud computing isn’t really going to take off in higher ed the way I had hoped.  I do think that Amazon’s Reserved Instances will help colleges see that it is a more affordable option.  However the problem right now is that we don’t know how much money we will have next year, let alone the year after.  So the question is, should I really be signing myself up for a service that requires me to pay on a monthly basis?  I’ve actually contacted Amazon to see if you can pay via an Amazon.com gift card or the like.  Since I know how much money I have right now, perhaps if I put that on a gift card, it’ll last me for a few years.  I’ll update if I get a response.

Also its hard to convince people that I really am saving money by using Amazon Web Services.  The problem is that the electricity, cooling, server, support, all come out of different budgets.  So if you add it all up its a lot more expensive to have a real live server than a virtual one.  But the people that pay the electricity bill aren’t going to send me the money that I’m saving them.

So what can I do?  Well here at Wheaton we’ve set up NComputing.  Essentially there is a server that the computers connect to.  You install whatever productivity software you want (and your licenses allow).  And then users sit down, log in to the teeny tiny square box you see off to the left, and bam! instant computer.

This allows an IT department to set up computers for a fraction of the cost of setting up a “real” one.  Our Director of Technical Support sent out an email letting us now we’re saving roughly $18,000 dollars by implementing these 10 boxes rather than 10 traditional computers.  That’ll pay for my Amazon Reserved Instance for at least 5 (if not more) years (don’t forget Amazon charges you for get and put requests as well as file uploading).

So if you’re looking for a way to get a bit cloudy without diving head long into utility computing, try virtualizing your desktop computers.  It provides you with the ability to save actual real live money out of your own budget, and has the added benefit of reducing electricity on campus (and maybe you can convince the guy that pays the electric bill that you should get more money from his budget).